Originally posted by dtg_9er:
That was why it was so important that he could turn it on when necessary. Many QBs can't. Most QBs can't. With Harbaugh and Smith together they were able to do so and that was a knock on Smith over the years...he wasn't a gamer. Now he is "Clutch, Clutch!"

I just find it hilarious that what people call clutch is a guy who does absolutely nothing until he's about to lose the game. Next time we get a lead we should just put in two runningbacks until we've lost the lead and need alex to turn on clutchmode.

clutchmode=beastmode LOL

I don't think Alex is clutch. I think he has an all-world defense and special teams. All of the sudden he is clutch. Nope I don't
buy it! You know when I want him to be clutch? 3rd down in the 2nd or 3rd quarter to keep the chains moving! That's pretty important too,
not just the 4th qtr.

Originally posted by vaden:
I deleted that post because I realized it was off-topic to this thread, but since you responded... No, my math was correct except I meant 25 games, not 24. I was including the playoff games. You're also distorting what I said about our run game vs. passing game. I stated our run game ranked lower in ypr than our passing game did in yards per attempt. which is a fact. Check it out if you don't believe me. It's also a fact that Gore ranked 25th in ypr (only counting RBs) and Alex ranked 17th in ypa. Gore was also atrocious on 3rd & short, as was Hunter, and that's why we ranked last in rushing on 3rd & short.

Yes, defenses key in on stopping the run, because we are built around it and were the only team other than Houston and Denver to run more than pass. Our OL is far better at run blocking, and our RBs are far better than our receivers, so of course our run game should've performed better than our passing game, but it didn't.

Well yeah if you include the inflated playoff numbers from uncharacteristic shootouts. I assumed you meant regular season.

I didn't distort your facts about the run game vs passing game, I just said it's stupid to call our run game overrated because the passing game has a higher yards per attempt. Nearly every team has a higher passing YPA than YPR. It's much easier to throw a ball 8 yards than it is to run 8 yards. The browns came close to being about the same but Mccoy is still 1 yard higher than hillis.

If a full time bell cow RB has 7 YPR(what Alex threw) he's gonna be around a 2000 yd back. The highest YPR this year for someone who ran over 200 times was Reggie bush with 5, but he only ran 216 times so he got 1086 yds. Mccoy ran 270 for 4.8 so he got 1300 yards. MJD ran 343 times at 4.7 which explains his 1600 yds.

Gore ran 12 times more than Mccoy at 4.3 for 1200 yds. So is it that big of a deal if Gore has to run 12 more times in a year to get 100 fewer yards? Stretch those 100 missing yards and 12 more carries across a season and it's nothing. It's like 5-10 fewer yards and 1 extra carry per game. This all also doesn't factor in Hunter's 473 yards into our total running game.

Compared to the difference between Alex and the 16 people above him in Y/A, yards per run differentials aren't that big of a deal. We're talking about less than half of a yard separating MJD from Gore. So .4 yards is 1 feet 2 inches. Compare that to the 2 yards, or 6 feet per attempt, separating Alex from Rodgers. The difference amounts to 100+ yds/game.

As you can see, it gets pretty ridiculous trying to compare RBs to QBs, lets just not do it. You say the running game is one of the worst on 3rd and short, so is our passing game so they have that in common. The difference is most teams don't run on 3rd for that reason.

You're again distorting what I wrote. I never compared our yards per rush to our yards per attempt. I compared our rankings in those categories. We ranked 19th in ypr, right between the Colts and the Rams. We ranked 16th in yards per attempt. If you look at Football Outsiders' DVOA, our passing ranked 12th, rushing ranked 24th.

On 3rd down, Gore and Hunter finished at the bottom of the NFC. All of these stats can be checked at espn and washingtonpost.com.

4.1 ypr and worst in the league on 3rd down is a huge problem when you are a running team, one of only 3 teams that runs more than passes. This is not to bash our RBs but to say, contrary to popular opinion, Alex wasn't carried by them.

I don't think Alex is clutch. I think he has an all-world defense and special teams. All of the sudden he is clutch. Nope I don't
buy it! You know when I want him to be clutch? 3rd down in the 2nd or 3rd quarter to keep the chains moving! That's pretty important too,
not just the 4th qtr.

You disagree with Harbaugh and that is your right. I'm sure you will get all 9er fans to agree...or not. Oh, by the way, while you are rolling around would you mind dusting a bit?

Originally posted by aman49:
You know what's funny about this thread? People are assuming the 49ers have the leverage, when in fact Alex has the leverage.

I used to say the opposite but now realize this is very true. If they believed in Kaep half as much as Alex's detractors do, they'd tell Alex to take a hike and use that money to build around Kaep. Without Alex, the playoffs are a serious question mark. Especially if he goes to Seattle.

Originally posted by mayo49:
Yeah, they also got Kaep in their back pocket.

No top WR is signing here with Kaep as the starter. And this team is not going to the Super Bowl with Kaep in 2012. Niners need Alex or Peyton to get to the Super Bowl in 2012. And Peyton isn't coming.

Originally posted by aman49:
You know what's funny about this thread? People are assuming the 49ers have the leverage, when in fact Alex has the leverage.

Not true because the niners can get some other middle of the pack QB to manage the offense.

That's a pretty s**tty plan B.

Or sign Manning and upgrade.

lol. Despite what this guy laughably says, the 49ers know without Alex they are borderline screwed. He is the best QB FA available after Manning, and frankly we don't even know if Manning will be healthy again. Thus, Smith is the best QB option we got, and if you take Manning out, he is BY FAR our best option. Thus, Alex has the leverage.

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